Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:57 pm Post subject: Can i use any old ram in my Ultra 5?

This is likely a question which has been asked many times before, but do I have to use sun memory in my Ultra5 or can I use another brand of a similar spec? Does anybody have any experience in doing this? Thanks.

Also, what settings are people using to get a decent response (not too fast, not too slow) out of a type5 mouse in X? It's driving me round the bend here.

IBM 168-pin 3.3v EDO ECC buffered ram dimm works, i'm using those at the moment (4x128MB for a total of 512MB).
They're the ones used in Netfinity 7000 M10 quad xeon boxes, probably compaq has something similar in some other model.
Careful though, plain Netfinity 7000 (non-M10, quad PPRO) uses a different memory.
You can check the part numbers on IBM's support site._________________Gustavo Zacarias
Gentoo/SPARC monkey

The important thing is that the ram be of the correct pinout, and be EDO ram ...
Also your bootprom revision may limit what type you can use .. IIRC older boot proms could only use 60ns ram, while the updated ones can use 40ns ram moduls._________________-Tim Smith

For the most part 168-pin DIMMs are keyed - the notches vary position according to voltage and memory type.
But since the keying is just a slight variation the best way to check is by comparison rather than trying to plug them in since you can physically break something if you try too hard._________________Gustavo Zacarias
Gentoo/SPARC monkey

Are the 256mb modules compatible with the U5's? Sunsolve says it will take up to 128 only. Also i'm in the UK, and the prices of sun memory are quite scandalous. If the shipping from the US to UK isn't too costly, i'd love to, but one seller wanted upwards of $50 shipping. UK sucks ass for computers man

Yeah, U5 and U10 use the same system board (motherboard) actually.
The only problem with the big U10 modules is they're taller and won't fit on a u5 case without effort.
Effort = remove the silly floppy drive _________________Gustavo Zacarias
Gentoo/SPARC monkey

Are the 256mb modules compatible with the U5's? Sunsolve says it will take up to 128 only. Also i'm in the UK, and the prices of sun memory are quite scandalous. If the shipping from the US to UK isn't too costly, i'd love to, but one seller wanted upwards of $50 shipping. UK sucks ass for computers man

You also need to make sure you have the latest prom otherwise it might not recognise the ram as 50ns.
Also you dont necessarily need sun original ram. Im running my ultra 5 with 512mb of sun ram and 512mb of kingston ram with no problems.
You usually find on ebay that the non-sun ram is quite a bit cheaper. You are right about the shipping, some sellers charge like the proverbial wounded bull or wont ship outside the US. There are a few good ones if you keep an eye out for them though.
While you are at it pick up a 440mhz ultra10 processor for it too!!!

You also need to make sure you have the latest prom otherwise it might not recognise the ram as 50ns.
Also you dont necessarily need sun original ram. Im running my ultra 5 with 512mb of sun ram and 512mb of kingston ram with no problems.
You usually find on ebay that the non-sun ram is quite a bit cheaper. You are right about the shipping, some sellers charge like the proverbial wounded bull or wont ship outside the US. There are a few good ones if you keep an eye out for them though.
While you are at it pick up a 440mhz ultra10 processor for it too!!!

I already have a 400mhz proc, but i had no idea it would support the 440. I'm happy with the 400 for now though. I'll have a look for some good none sun ram, preferably 4 256's. Is your kingston ram 50ns?